In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, five are shot dead by an expert sniper. All evidence seems to point to James Barr, a former army sharpshooter, but he sticks by his story that he is innocent and writes a note which says: ďGet Jack ReacherĒ. Reacher, a drifter and former army military police officer, sees the news report and turns up in the city. The defense is immensely relieved, but Reacher says he has come to bury the guy. Shocked at the accusedís request, Reacher sets out to confirm for himself the absolute certainty of the manís guilt, but soon comes up with more than he bargained forÖÖ.

You can certainly understand the fuss. In Lee Childís Jack Reacher books, Reacher is 6 foot 5. Tom Cruise, who for some reason was chosen to play him in on screen, is nowhere near that. Of course Child has now publically said that he was mistaken and that Cruise carries off the role so well that his lack of height is not an issue. A very similar thing happened many years before with Anne Rice and the Cruise-starring Interview With The Vampire. Far be it for me to be cynical and suggest that politics and even money played a part in this, but I reckon that if I was a fan of the books I would certainly have a hard time accepting a short actor in the role. More to the point though, is the first film in what is an attempt at a new franchise for Cruise [isnít one enough?] any good? Well, itís perfectly okay but with not much to distinguish it. I wasnít bored, and donít regret seeing it, but I wonít rush out to buy it. Nor will it encourage me to read any of the Reacher books, which seem to be usually described as ďgood page-turnersĒ but nothing more.

The attempt here is obviously to make an action movie that is closer to one you might get in the 70ís, with the action more spread out and low-key, while conversations play out at a decent length rather than giving the impression they have been cut to the bone to make room for some more explosions. A worthy thing to do then, but one that does not entirely come off. One major reason is Reacher himself. As written for the screen, heís a pretty uninteresting hero, a slightly confused variation of characters like Dirty Harry, who sometimes go beyond the law to do what they think is the right thing, and Cruise doesnít help by playing him like Ethan Hunt with less morality. I can imagine Clint Eastwood doing a good job with him if this had been made back in the 70ís,; there are even some mildly amusing lines for Reacher to deliver which Eastwood would have said wonderfully, but instead we get Autopilot Tom, the Tom that is frankly a little dull. Saying that though, he does convincingly give the impression that he is very tough and can beat up five guys who are half his age, something he had always been good at. I just donít feel he gives films like this his all. Of course thereís nothing wrong with him just having fun, but he doesnít look like heís having much fun and doesnít at all seem relaxed, instead he seems wound up like a coiled spring, but never letting loose.

The opening scene, obviously intended to evoke Dirty Harry, is rather scary as we assume the point of view of the sniper as he looks through his telescope at various targets and all we here is his breathing. Reacherís introduction, leaving a clearly satisfied woman in a hotel room as we only see him from the back, is nicely done. The early investigative scenes are relatively interesting, as we are allowed to see the opening shooting from various angles and in fact writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, who to be honest hasnít really done anything notable since his great screenplay for The Usual Suspects, does very well with several later scenes in which he shows us visually what characters are telling us instead of just showing them talk. The leisurely pace to much of the film, especially the first half, would not be a problem if the story and main character were interesting, but I got less and less interested in the plot as the film went on, with one Ďtwistí being something Iíd guessed right from near the beginning, and Iím normally not very good at this kind of thing. Frankly, if this film follows the book closely, then the books arenít that good.

Every now and again Reacher has to best a few heavies, and McQuarrie certainly does well with these scenes. He lets us see the action properly and shows considerable brutality with eye gouging, finger breaking and head stamping amongst the delights on offer, without actually being graphic. I would still say itís a little vicious for a 12A rating, though apparently two brief bits have been shortened at the behest of the censors, one being very obvious. I loved the way Reacher is willing to fight as dirty as possible if he feels it is necessary, and my only complaint about the fighting is that the final one is a little short. There is also a terrific car chase which manages to be very exciting while still just about keeping things believable. That is one thing that I did find interesting about Jack Reacher; it tries to keep things realistic, and it mostly succeeds in that area. Despite its very impressive direction and sometimes good staging though, it never entirely gels, though you could certainly do far worse at the cinema at the moment.

Now I am always happy to see the lovely Rosamund Pike on screen, especially when we are given ample looks at her cleavage, but she and Cruise have hardly any chemistry together and are a pretty mediocre team. Youíve probably heard that the great German director Werner Herzog plays the main bad guy, a good idea as his face and voice are perfect for screen villainy and heís always struck me as a little scary. He is given a great introduction, coming partially out of the darkness behind somebody, after which we cut to someone else and just hear the great manís voice. Heís not in the film very much though, and actually his acting is not too good. Elsewhere the villains are mostly laughably incompetent, Robert Duvallís character makes little sense, and actually if you think about it the overall plot doesnít make much sense either. The film could have easily lost 20 min too; it isnít boring, but it is a tad repetitive in some sections and some of the information given could have been shown more crisply.

Joe Kraemer delivers a score that often tries hard to create suspense when there is little. Jack Reacher seems to be a slight disappointment at the box office at the time of writing so it isnít sure yet whether sequels will happen. There are 16 other Jack Reacher novels. On the evidence of this film, Iíll certainly not object to watching films of the others though wonít really be excited at the prospect. In any case, there are plenty of other literary heroes which even Cruise could have a decent stab at. Though it is well made, there are points of interest and a few very well done scenes, overall Jack Reacher is a bit bland and not original enough to stand out in the crowded world of this kind of movie today. As I said, I didnít feel my time was wasted watching it, but ask me in a couple of weeks things about the film and I doubt Iíll remember much of it.

Since 1997, British author Lee Child has written a series of novels that follows the adventures of a former American Military Policeman, Jack Reacher, who like Clint Eastwoodís Man with No Name, wanders the United States. Based on the ninth book One Shot in the series, the retitled Jack Reacher had gained controversy even during its early development due to the casting of Tom Cruise who doesnít fit the character description of the eponymous Reacher, but can the short superstar prove the fanbase wrong?

Following the random killing of five people, the police arrest a former army sharpshooter who instantly calls for Jack Reacher. Accompanied by the D.A.ís daughter Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), the drifter believes that the case is far greater than just the random murders.

Last year was the release of Nicolas Winding Refnís Drive (my favourite film of 2011) which freshly took the narrative of a 70ís crime thriller featuring a lone drifter and blended with an arthouse sensibility. Despite being based on a much-loved series, Jack Reacher doesnít bring any fresh elements to this type of story as writer-director Christopher McQuarrie goes for the more old-school antics of Dirty Harry. Given its 12A rating, it is more hard-hitting than the usual Bourne-like actioners as McQuarrie is not one for shaky-cams and wants to show that Reacher can kick everyoneís asses, as well as a riveting opening sequence featuring the sniper shootings.

Having written The Usual Suspects, McQuarrie makes a very functional thriller with a few clever twists and turns, which applies great backstory to support the main story and displaying enough mystery throughout, not least from its main villain. While the narrative is fairly straightforward, McQuarrie does have a lot of fun in the mix from the hilarious Three Stooges-styled fight sequence to a truly horrifying torture dominated by Werner Herzog who as the villainous Zec, is a stroke of genius.

Now Mr Cruise is a lot of things except being tall, as the key description of Jack Reacher being 6' 5" tall is significant in the books. Despite the fan controversy, Cruise has played tough before, such as his great performance from Collateral. Although he doesnít quite capture the aggressiveness and mystery of roles like the Man with No Name, Cruise is perfectly fine and tough enough to carry the whole film, whilst being surrounded a good supporting cast from Robert Duvall and the future John McClane Jr., Jai Courtney.

As the start of a potential franchise, this is an above average thriller which though is not without flaws, it is functionally directed by The Usual Suspectsí Christopher McQuarrie who will later direct the next Mission: Impossible.

I'll go with three stars, watchable but not outstanding. Like many I am a fan of the books and was surprised they picked this one which I thought was one of the weakest. But they do an okay job of it and Cruise was better than I expected although still 'wrong'. It needed a younger Harrison Ford or Liam Neeson for the sheer physical presence that Reaher has.

The thing I see, is that it will be a lot of people who have enjoyed the books coming to see this, and over the course of 15 odd books, people have an image in their heads of what the character will be like. This is the audience that might get pissed off at Reacher not being a massive brick shite house as he is described.

The film hasn't got a mystery actor as the lead, only to be revealed when we first meet Reacher, so surely they know before they buy their tickets what Tom Cruise looks like and whether or not the fact he's not built like a WWE wrestler will ruin their enjoyment of the film (it shouldn't - it's great)?

Never read any of the books – and if you haven’t – you wouldn’t know that the title character is supposed to be some blonde, 6ft 5 inch aryan uber-mench know it all.

And try as they might, no matter how many times they try to film him using all those obviously too low camera angles through out the entire movie – Mr. midget is still quite clearly Mr. midget. But still - size isn’t everything - and Cruise just about nails it I think, mainly because of an excellent script written by Chris McQuarrie and some niftily directed action beats – (the muscle car chase sequence is excellent). Throw in some sterling supporting turns from Rosamund Pike and Robert Duvall and you’ve got a film which ain’t half bad and harks back to all those slow burning, hard hitting Dirty Harry Movies that Clint Eastwood was churning out way back when.

A good way to finish the old year – or indeed start the new one. Jack Reacher is worth a look. FOUR STARS

We start of with a shocking random shooting, where a mystery sniper kills upto 5 innocent bystanders on a busy sidewalk in Pennsylvania.

Soon enough police detective Emerson (David Oyelowo) is on the scene with district defence attorney Helen (Rosamund Pike) to figure what to do with the shooter,...until he utters the word's get 'Jack Reacher,...'

And so starts a magnificently plotted who-dunnit with Tom Cruise in blistering form as the eponymous Jack Reacher, a drifter, loner and ex-cop on a mission to find the absolute truth, no matter what it takes!!

So Jack and district defence attorney Helen delve into a truly dark and at times disturbing unravelling of a sinister conspiracy which brings in some rather unpleasant characters...most notably chief villian 'The Zec' played with chilling menace by Werner Herzog,...you just barely stomach a scene involving fingers...you have been warned and his top henchmen Charlie played with suitable efficiency by newcomer Jai Courtney.

What follows are numerous brutal voilent exchanges as Jack Reacher beats thugs,...in one great bar brawl..'you asked for this he muses..' and LOT'S of hitman...... There is one quite hilarious exchange with two hitmen with baseball bats,...they do more damage to themselves than our Jack!

As the plot thickens the suprises and plot twists come thick and fast and all our lead players do a great job of sustaining our intrigue as the truth begins to surface not only about the massacre but about Jack's intentions through out as well,...

We then proceed with a cracking car chase,...'Bullet' style as Jack is on the hunt of his foes as well as being wanted by the police. The finale is a great three way set piece shootout which will have you on the edge of your seat with expert direction from Christopher McQuarrie!!

If Tom Cruise is looking for a new franchise he might have to keep looking because Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is not the cracking crime thriller that many anticipated. The man who wrote the unforgettable Usual Suspects has made one forgettable thriller.

The opening has a lone assassin gun down five innocent civilians. In the wake of the real life kindergarten massacre in Connecticut by a lone gunman it’s an unsettling start. But before long Tom/Jack is in frame and on the case. The plot has Jack trying to uncover who actually killed these people and what was the motive. Jack is ex-military police, super smart, great with his fists, an expert marksman and a nice guy to boot. Oh yeah he knows how to drive a car which he proves in a nicely staged car chase that has Cruise driving McQueen like through the streets of Saltsburg Pennsylvania at night. However I suspect CGI played a hand in the end result.

Cruise’s career has been extraordinary by any standards; he has mixed targeted blockbusters with interesting work. For every Mission Impossible there has been a Magnolia or Jerry Maguire. In the right role he is a very fine actor and he has done some of his best work playing unsavoury characters. Think Frank Mackey in Magnolia and Vincent from Collateral these parts have showcased an actor with range. Even the blockbusters generally hit the right note and the Mission Impossible franchise is a testament to his star power and inspired choice of directors to steer the franchise. One of his mentors was Paul Newman who had a similar trajectory. For very Towering Inferno there was a Hud or Fast Eddie. The struggles of being a Hollywood A lister balanced with the need to do interesting work. But Newman on reflection made his fair share of turkeys amidst the gems.

Jack Reacher is a film that wants to have ambiguity, toughness and a noir quality but feels compromised. McQuarrie writes some terrific dialogue there

If Tom Cruise is looking for a new franchise he might have to keep looking because Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is not the cracking crime thriller that many anticipated. The man who wrote the unforgettable Usual Suspects has made one forgettable thriller.

The opening has a lone assassin gun down five innocent civilians. In the wake of the real life kindergarten massacre in Connecticut by a lone gunman it’s an unsettling start. But before long Tom/Jack is in frame and on the case. The plot has Jack trying to uncover who actually killed these people and what was the motive. Jack is ex-military police, super smart, great with his fists, an expert marksman and a nice guy to boot. Oh yeah he knows how to drive a car which he proves in a nicely staged car chase that has Cruise driving McQueen like through the streets of Saltsburg Pennsylvania at night. However I suspect CGI played a hand in the end result.

Cruise’s career has been extraordinary by any standards; he has mixed targeted blockbusters with interesting work. For every Mission Impossible there has been a Magnolia or Jerry Maguire. In the right role he is a very fine actor and he has done some of his best work playing unsavoury characters. Think Frank Mackey in Magnolia and Vincent from Collateral these parts have showcased an actor with range. Even the blockbusters generally hit the right note and the Mission Impossible franchise is a testament to his star power and inspired choice of directors to steer the franchise. One of his mentors was Paul Newman who had a similar trajectory. For very Towering Inferno there was a Hud or Fast Eddie. The struggles of being a Hollywood A lister balanced with the need to do interesting work. But Newman on reflection made his fair share of turkeys amidst the gems.

Jack Reacher is a film that wants to have ambiguity, toughness and a noir quality but feels compromised. McQuarrie writes some terrific dialogue there

I enjoyed it, although not so much that I'll give it a second thought in future.

Saying that, during the "Look out the window, tell me what you see" scene, I did have a funny thought pop into my head. This film was so melodramatic that it suddenly occurred to me how funny it would be if Jack Reacher, instead of being played by Tom Cruise, was played by Leslie Nielsen

I thought is started really well but went rapidly downhill from there. McQuarrie's directorial debut, 'The Way of the Gun' , was fantastic so I was really optimistic about this one but the pacing was poor, the set-pieces uninspired and the dialogue hilariously bad at times. The potentially ingenious casting of Werner Herzog proved a damp squib with much of his dialogue greeted with howls of laughter at the screening I attended. I've never read any of the Lee Child books so the furore over the casting of Cruise was irrelevant to me but I do feel that he didn't suit the character; I just didn't get him as this type of character. Fairly disappointing unfortunately.

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I know that look; it's the same look my father gave me when I told him I wanted to be a ventriloquist.

Good, but nothing special....Im a big fan of the books,,,apart from the last one, and it just about sticks to the tone of them...One thing that struck me though; Was it just me, or was there never an opportunity missed to catch Miss Pikes cleavage....somewhere a group of students will develop a drinking game,,,having to down a shot every time her ample bosom pops on screen..

Adapted from a novel I know nothing about and a writer I've never heard of, but I did take the liberty of reading up on what to expect. Thing is the director of this film clearly hasn't done the same. Now from what I learned the main character in these books, 'Reacher', is 6'5'' tall, built like a brick shithouse, blonde hair, pretty fit, pretty muscular, piercing blue eyes, weighs around 250 pounds and has many battle scars. For this someone thought it a good idea to cast Tom Cruise, yeah...of course.

According to Wiki Childs (novelist) decided that Reacher's huge frame what more a metaphor for an unstoppable force. Yeah sounds like you're backtracking there matey, just to get Cruise on board, should of cast an unknown.

An atrocity is committed, five people are senselessly killed by a lone sniper, someone is dragged in as a suspect and 'Jack Reacher' is the man asked for. From here on its pretty much a standard murder mystery 'who dunnit?', in fact you could say its like Sherlock Holmes if he went around beating people half to death.

This really has to be the biggest anti climax I've seen for some time. The films poster boldly shows Cruise's battered face (nothing else, as usual), the whole image is dark, brooding and clearly trying to give the impression he's a tough no nonsense kinda guy. Then when you watch the film all you get is Cruise...being Cruise, but attempting to be the strong silent type whilst at the same time being a wisecracking smartass, it just doesn't work.

The story is slowish but mainly just very very average, there isn't really anything in the film that got me excited or had me on the edge of my seat. You know the guy they capture at the start isn't the killer for fudges sake! you know he's been set up, its clear as day, it shows you!! (that's not even a spoiler!) the only question is who did do it and why? but its not really that much of big deal anyway. The whole thing plods along being very bland and highly uneventful. Oh and they show you the killer at the start too pfft! not much left.

We do get a car chase and one sequence where Cruise is up against five guys in a car park. Thing is Cruise doesn't look intimidating at all and the five guys should really just beat him down rather quickly. Duvall pops up in role which feels completely pointless seeing as Cruise is always invincible and the finale with the bad guys is again completely unexciting. You think there's gonna be some really good retribution...nope, there isn't.

Maybe I'm being too hard? its not a bad film, its well made and looks good, its just utterly flat, almost boring. Unsure if Cruise made himself 'Reacher' or it was horrendous casting but either way not a good decision. The plot is standard, the action is standard, we clearly see how short Cruise actually is in a few shots, there is a truly terrible sequence where some guys try to beat Cruise but it all ends up like a 'Three Stooges' sequence and generally on the whole it felt like an episode of some random US cop drama (choose, there are loads of em! and they're all the same).

The film is ONLY as big as it is because of Cruise being in the lead role, simple as that. Other than that its a run of the mill film, two hours with Tom Cruise and not much else.

i've seen the movie..and i think it's the MIS-marketing of it that cause its disappointing performance at the box office. the movie's not so much an action flick (which many people think, including me) as it is a thriller with some action in it. as the latter, the movie delivers and cruise's star power really carries this thru. and i enjoyed enough that i'm looking forward to more jack reacher movies. i'd give it 3 1/2 stars.

Saying that, during the "Look out the window, tell me what you see" scene, I did have a funny thought pop into my head. This film was so melodramatic that it suddenly occurred to me how funny it would be if Jack Reacher, instead of being played by Tom Cruise, was played by Leslie Nielsen

Great idea

I enjoyed the first 10 minutes, then painfully it just got boring. I haven't read any of the books, but the way every character was trying to shoe horn a back story in was just so amateurly done, so blatantly "this is an entire chapter in the book but only warrants 10 seconds in the film" it put me off the film completely. It made me wish I had read the books first, but did it make me want to go and read the books? No. They can happily make another 20 Jack Reacher films for me (no idea how may books there are) but this will be the last one for me.

I enjoyed watching this film and playing the 'guess how they made Tom look taller' game.

Its particularly funny to see how his height varies next to the women. Continuity is all over the shop.

Aside from him being a midget, Cruise is also getting too old for this type of action shit.

Is he though? He seems to be coping rather well in action films for a 50 year old - writers haven't started adding "jokes" about his knees or back giving out yet and I'm repeatedly surprised when I remember how old he is.

This was a good actioner, but to make out Reacher was a suspect for killing 'Sandy' was stretching belief too far.

If there's any directors/producers out there reading this please give me a job. I could do a much better job with the plot-lines. This incident only weakened the film. Please don't spoil films like this.

I sat down to watch this film and the opening scenes seemed kind of familiar. I decided at some point I must have started watching it and fallen asleep, or had to do something else and not remembered to finish. But no, the longer I watched, the more scenes I remembered seeing before, so I skipped ahead. Turns out I've seen the whole movie, and just blanked it out of my memory because it was so dull.